Pieces
by LynnFox
Summary: My response to this week's YTDAW Improv Challenge. GSR, complete.They'll never be able to talk, so she'd have to leave.


A/N: My response to this week's YTDAW Improv Challenge. First line: "I don't want to know," Brass sighed. Last line: They watched as the pieces fluttered through the air. GSR, as usual! Enjoy! Oh and yeah, I don't own them. I seem to forget to mention that every now and then, but I really don't. Lynn

* * *

"I don't want to know," Brass sighed. 

"It's true! I swear!" Greg was jumping up and down like a four year old. "I saw them at it! I was there!"

Brass smiled at the youngest night-shift CSI. He had always liked him, but sometimes he could get on his nerves just a tiny little bit.

"Listen. I've always seen this coming. Either he was going to give it a try or she was going to leave. It was just a matter of time."

"But she can't leave Brass! I need her, she's my mentor, she's a wonderful person. She makes me smile!"

"You always smile," Brass commented.

Greg hung his head. "I really don't know what to do about it."

"I know kid, I know."

Meanwhile, in Grissom's office things were getting a bit out of hand.

"I thought we were doing well!" Grissom pleaded.

"**Well**? You call ignoring me **well**?"

"I know you're a vegetarian now..."

"And you think me being a vegetarian is the cause of all our problems? It isn't me Grissom, I told you that the last time I handed you one of these." Sara waved a Leave of Absence form in front of his face.

"I sent you a plant and you stayed." A small smile played around his lips at the memory. "What do you want from me this time?"

"What... **Want**!" Sara was obviously raging with anger.

"You think I'm for **sale**!" She roared.

Grissom winced. He had never seen her this angry. Well, he had, but not at him. The look in her eyes that of an angry lioness, her bodylanguage speaking clearly; 'You've gone too far this time.'

"This is not about **buying** anything, Grissom. The plant's just a plant! I'm human, I'm hurt emotionally by this self-centered attitude of yours. Emotional hurt takes emotional measures. Not some stupid plant, not money, not a promotion, not any of that." Sara rubbed her temples.

"Then what **is** it you need?" Grissom asked with a desperate tone of voice.

"I need a Leave of Absence."

Grissom stared at her blankly.

"No, Sara..." he whispered, voice barely audible, "What do you want from me?"

"From **you**?" Sara could barely believe he was saying that.

"Yes, me as me, not as a supervisor."

"I think you know what I need, Grissom."

"You want me to do something about 'this'," he said, gesturing between the two of them.

"I don't just want you to, I need you to. I've waited five damn years, Grissom, **five**! Entomology texts and orchids don't do it for me! I need more than that. I just can't keep on waiting. I need to either get to you or get away from you."

"Come for a walk," Grissom offered.

"I just want to get this over with."

"Please. Come with me."

Sara reluctantly agreed to go with him, feeling that she had no choice but to follow his pace one last time. In stead of heading towards the exit, Grissom was leading her further into the center of the Crime Lab building. He paced with great speed, causing Sara to follow him in a slight trot.

"I thought you said '**walk**', this is excercise! I already ran four miles this morning!"

Grissom glanced over his shoulder. "Just follow me. Please."

He had said 'please' twice in the last five minutes. This was new, he never gave anyone a choice, he always just assumed people would take his orders. He was born to be a leader.

Sara followed Grissom up to the roof. She noticed a chair standing near the ledge, looking out over the streets of Las Vegas. It was near the end of shift and the sun started to rise in the east, coloring the sky a mixture of pink, purple and gold.

"The sun rises red, blood has been spilled last night," Grissom said.

"Lord of the Rings," Sara smiled wryly, "but you have the inside scoop on that. You're supposed to know blood has been spilled."

Grissom motioned to the chair. "Please sit down."

Sara did as told. Didn't she always?

"Start talking," she said, while shifting slightly in the chair.

Grissom lowered himself to the ground to face her.

"The reason I brought you up here is because I think we should discuss our problems in private, without anyone ready to barge in the door. Nobody ever comes up here," he said, while glancing around the roof. "It's my think-spot. Whenever there's a case I can't solve on opera, I come up here and let the city tell it's story.

"I've never told anyone about this place. Not even Catherine, and she knows pretty much all there is to know about me."

Sara smiled at the fact that Grissom obviously felt comfortable enough to show her his hide-out.

"You see, Sara, I find it hard to decide what to do about this situation. We go back a very long way. There is so much that happened between us that shouldn't have, and so much that didn't happen that should have."

Sara nodded in silence. She knew exactly what he meant.

"I remember the day I met you. You were sitting way in the back of the auditorium but still you stood out. Two large brown eyes watching my every move. You were writing down every thing I said, I think."

"I had a laptop with me."

"I distinctly remember the laptop. You were typing away so fast and so loud everybody was getting annoyed, including me."

"You didn't remember what you were saying anymore," Sara smiled, "And I typed that down. 'As for the maggots in this specific case... Excuse me miss! Yes you with the laptop, could you please try to keep it down a bit?' I read it over and over again."

"I remember your reply. You said laptops were the future in college auditoriums and that you thought I was old school for getting annoyed by it."

Sara blushed. "I didn't know how to act around you, so I went with my big mouth."

_"Keep it down? I'm just typing!" the brown-haired young woman in the back replied._

_"You're disturbing my thoughts miss..."_

_"Sidle. Laptops are the future you know. In only one or two years everyone will type away. Frankly, I think you're a bit old school to get annoyed by this."_

_Every single student in the auditorium gasped as they watched the scene between the professor and the student take an unexpected turn._

_"Really, old school?" Grissom replied, "I happen to work with the finest forensic equipment. Using a new version of already existing tools or new tools in general almost monthly. I wouldn't call that old school, would you, miss Sidle?"_

_Sara smiled briefly. "I want to write down everything you say and since you talk quite fast and my handwriting is very sloppy I prefer using my laptop."_

_"Fine then, but please, try not to make so much noise with it."_

_After the lecture the tall brunetted hopped down the stairs in his direction._

_"Excuse me, Dr. Grissom?"_

_He turned around. "Miss Sidle. Did you enjoy the rest of the lecture?"_

_"I did, very much, it's very interesting and you are a great speaker," she said, "I'm sorry by the way for calling you old school. I'm not really used to being reprimanded by professors."_

_"I see, you seem very eager to learn, so normally you probably don't cause any problems."_

_The girl in front of him grinned, revealing a sparkling row of teeth, with a gap in the middle._

_"I'd like to buy you coffee and pick your brain for a while, is that okay?" she asked with her head slightly tilted._

_"Sure," he replied, "as long as you don't bring that laptop."_

Grissom smiled at the memory.

"And then the afternoon came. Several hours of coffee preceded dinner."

Sara's eyes darkened. "Oh... Right... Dinner."

"It was that afternoon that I fell in love with you. But when I told you I would like to see more of you, you told me I was too old," he stated in a low voice.

"I was a dumb kid Grissom, I was only twenty-five. That, and scared."

"It took me a year to get you out of my head and then I get a phone call asking me if I can consult on a case with several bug-infested bodies in San Francisco. And guess who I ran in to there."

"Me."

"Yes. You. And although you were a year older, you were still the same girl. Beautiful, witty, smart. And I fell for you again. We shared a meal and there I was; falling again. We spent a night together, in my hotel-room."

"But the next day I turned you down. Again." A tear slipped from Sara's face. "It must have hurt you so much to hear me address our age difference again."

Grissom nodded in silence. Sara merely stared at him as he was staring to the ground. Grissom heaved a big sigh.

"Three years later, Holly was shot. I needed to bring in someone to investigate. Even though it had taken me three years to get over you this time, all I could think about was you. I had to call you to see if you would come running for me as I did for you the previous time."

"I came. But just for the job, and not for you. Not at that point anyway."

"When I told you I had so many unanswered "why"s... You knew I meant about us. Right?"

"Yes. I did."

"When you dismissed that, I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love with you anymore."

"And there I was, falling in love with **you**," Sara whispered, "Talk about bad timing."

"I broke my promise Sara."

Two large brown eyes sought his. "You... You love me? After all I've done to you?"

Grissom shrugged. "You love **me**, after all I've done to **you**."

"I do."

Grissom rose to his feet and took Sara's hand to help her up.

"I think I know what it is you need from me. I think it is the same thing I need from you."

"I want to be with you."

Grissom smiled and put his arms around her waist. "Me too."

He softly planted a kiss on her lips and they fell in heavenly bliss.

Slowly Sara reached into his pocket, retrieving her Leave of Absence form. She broke their kiss and took a step back.

"Never mind, but..." She ripped the form into a thousand shreds.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Finally ready." Grissom replied.

He gave her a small kiss on her neck as she tossed the pieces of paper from the side of the building.

"I love you," he said.

"I you too."

They watched as the pieces fluttered through the air.


End file.
